All Loaded Up For The First Time

This weekend we loaded up our bikes for the first time with the gear we plan to use on our cape trip and had a trial run. This was our chance to evaluate lightweight hammock shelters, bike packing techniques, and our ability to achieve the required distances.  It was a successful and enjoyable weekend, but not without challenges …

I packed my panniers with extra clothes, a bag of toiletries, my usual assortment of spare gloves, and the contents of my pants pockets.  A hammock shelter and my sleeping bag were strapped to the top of my rack. Isaac carried his winter sleeping bag, a hammock, and a sack of extra clothes. Clear plastic bags worked well to bundle items and provide rain protection while bungee cords and ratcheting tie downs held it all together. The good news was that with a little creativity, the narrow rear racks hold a lot of gear! The bad news, and lesson 1 of the weekend for me, was that the weight of all that stuff adds up fast. Once we packed up, my bike nearly required two hands to get the rear wheel off the ground. Isaac’s was onnly marginally better.We rolled out mid-day on Saturday destined for a campground in New Boston, NH.  Overlooking some apprehension regarding the effect of the weight of our load and Isaac’s limited time in the saddle, I was excited for the ride

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 9:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.